Indonesia cyclone death toll more than doubles to 41

December 7, 2017

JAKARTA (AFP) – A tropical cyclone that pounded Indonesia’s main island of Java has killed 41 people, the country’s disaster agency said yesterday, more than double the initial toll, with tens of thousands displaced by severe flooding and landslides.

Among the victims of Cyclone Cempaka were 25 people killed by a single landslide in east Java last week, the agency said. The initial cyclone death toll was 19.

Some 28,000 people have been displaced by the storm, which hit Indonesia’s most populous island last week.

“Almost 5,000 homes have been damaged and more than 3,000 others were inundated by flooding,” said agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho.

Villagers staying in a shelter in Klungkung on the Indonesian resort island of Bali after the eruption of the Mount Agung volcano. – AFP

The destruction from the cyclone came as the rumbling Mount Agung volcano on the neighbouring resort island of Bali threatened to erupt, forcing tens of thousands to flee their homes.

Cempaka has moved away from Indonesia, but Nugroho warned that more flooding and landslides still could happen.

Indonesia is prone to natural disasters and is often hit by floods and landslides.

A landslide on Bali in February killed 12 people, including three children. In September last year, almost 30 people died in devastating floods and landslides in Garut, West Java.